荷蘭尼莫科學(xué)博物館（ NEMO Science Museum ）展出了一個(gè)用已滅絕的猛犸象的脫氧核糖核酸（ DNA ）制成的肉丸。澳大利亞公司 Vow Foods 為一個(gè)尋找替代肉類生產(chǎn)方法的項(xiàng)目培植了這個(gè)肉丸 ，為世界首例。

Sadly, I'm yet to taste the woolly mammoth meatball. But I can tell you it's been made by making the DNA sequence for a muscle protein from a long-extinct mammoth, which scientists say gives the synthetic substance its meaty flavour.

遺憾的是，我還沒(méi)有品嘗過(guò)猛犸象肉丸。但我可以告訴你，肉丸是通過(guò)提取滅絕已久的猛犸象肌肉蛋白中的脫氧核糖核酸序列制成的，科學(xué)家們說(shuō)，這使這種人工合成物具有肉味。

The scientists, based at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering at the University of Queensland, then used elephant DNA to bolster the gaps left in the mammoth sequence and grew the meat from a sheep's stem cells.

在提取猛犸象的脫氧核糖核酸后，澳大利亞昆士蘭大學(xué)生物工程與納米技術(shù)研究所的科學(xué)家們用大象的脫氧核糖核酸填補(bǔ)了猛犸象序列中缺失的空白，并在綿羊的干細(xì)胞中培植出了這種肉。

If you're lost, just imagine taking cuttings from a plant and growing them in a greenhouse. In the same way, cells are taken from the animal, given the vitamins, nutrients and minerals they would get in the animal, and then the cells are grown to make the meat. In just a couple of weeks, 20 billion cells were used by the company to grow the mammoth meat, which hasn't been tasted in around 4,000 years.

如果你還是對(duì)肉丸的制法摸不著頭腦，不妨想象一下從植物上剪下插枝，種在溫室里的過(guò)程?？茖W(xué)家們用同樣的方法從動(dòng)物身上提取細(xì)胞，并將這種動(dòng)物體內(nèi)含有的維生素、營(yíng)養(yǎng)素和礦物質(zhì)喂給這些細(xì)胞，再將其培植成肉。在短短幾周內(nèi)，該公司用了200億個(gè)細(xì)胞培植出了已有約4000年沒(méi)人吃過(guò)的猛犸象肉。

The firm, Vow, said it chose the woolly mammoth because it's a symbol of environmental loss. It's all part of a growing movement to make more sustainable meat.

Vow 公司表示，之所以選擇猛犸象是因?yàn)樗笳髦h(huán)境的破壞。整個(gè)項(xiàng)目都是一場(chǎng)日益壯大的倡導(dǎo)活動(dòng)的一部分，目的是制造可持續(xù)生產(chǎn)的肉類。

While plant-made alternatives are now common, meat grown from stem cells in a lab, without animal slaughter, is creating many kinds of replacements for the sheep, pig, chicken and cow meat usually made in large-scale production farms. If made at scale, lab-grown meat could cut the climate impact of farm meat by up to 92 percent, reduce air pollution by up to 94 percent, and use 90 percent less land, according to a recently peer-reviewed journal article.

雖然替代肉類的植物性食品現(xiàn)在很常見(jiàn)，但在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里用干細(xì)胞培植出來(lái)的、不屠宰動(dòng)物就能生產(chǎn)的肉類為常在大型農(nóng)場(chǎng)生產(chǎn)的羊肉、豬肉、雞肉和牛肉創(chuàng)造了多種替代品。近期一篇經(jīng)同行評(píng)審的期刊文章中說(shuō)，如果大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)，實(shí)驗(yàn)室培植的肉類可減少多達(dá)92%的農(nóng)場(chǎng)生產(chǎn)的肉類會(huì)造成的氣候影響，同時(shí)減少高達(dá)94%的空氣污染和90%的土地使用。

Vow is not the first firm to try to make lab-grown meat from an extinct animal. In 2018, another made Gummi Bear sweets out of gelatine created from the DNA of a mastodon, a relative of the mammoth. Others are looking into cultured meat from buffalo, peacock and crocodile – if that whets your appetite.

Vow 并不是第一家嘗試用已滅絕動(dòng)物培植實(shí)驗(yàn)室肉類的公司。2018年，另一家公司用猛犸象的近親乳齒象的脫氧核糖核酸產(chǎn)生的動(dòng)物膠制成了小熊軟糖。如果你對(duì)實(shí)驗(yàn)室培植肉感興趣的話，其它公司在研發(fā)用水牛、孔雀和鱷魚(yú)的脫氧核糖核酸培植肉類，這些肉可能會(huì)激起你的食欲。

詞匯表

DNA sequence 脫氧核糖核酸序列
synthetic 人造的，合成的
bolster 加強(qiáng)，文中指 “填補(bǔ)”
stem cells 干細(xì)胞
cuttings 插條，插枝
vitamins 維生素
nutrients 營(yíng)養(yǎng)素
minerals 礦物質(zhì)
sustainable 可持續(xù)生產(chǎn)的
slaughter 屠宰
scale 規(guī)模
gelatine 動(dòng)物膠
cultured 人工養(yǎng)殖的，培育而成的
whets your appetite 激起你的食欲

閱讀理解：請(qǐng)?jiān)谧x完上文后，回答下列問(wèn)題。

1. What was used to bolster the gaps left in the woolly mammoth sequence?

2. When is it thought woolly mammoth meat was last tasted?

3. What is one impact of the development of lab-grown meat on the current meat industry?

4. True or false? Producing lab-grown meat on a large scale could help the climate.

答案

1. What was used to bolster the gaps left in the woolly mammoth sequence?

Scientists used elephant DNA to bolster the gaps left in the mammoth sequence.

2. When is it thought woolly mammoth meat was last tasted?

It hasn't been tasted in around 4,000 years.

3. What is one impact of the development of lab-grown meat on the current meat industry?

Meat grown from stem cells in a lab prevents animals being slaughtered.

4. True or false? Producing lab-grown meat on a large scale could help the climate.

True. One journal claims, if made at scale, lab-grown meat could cut the climate impact of farm meat by up to 92 percent.